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The Reentry Series Synthetic Meteor Showers |
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Thing Projects debut of HD (High Definition) web video clips
View HD video clips in Quicktime,
Windows Media, or MPEG-2
formats from the HD DVD, "Studies for Synthetic Meteors V1.0". | |
 Space Shuttle Columbia Breakup AP Photo/Jason Hutchinson |
Since the beginning of space exploration the atmospheric
reentry of man-made artifacts has created what could be considered synthetic meteors (1). The Reentry Series involves the
deliberate creation of vast,
ephemeral drawings using these reentry events. Historically, the pattern and timing of synthetic meteors has been inadvertent or
has been determined as a side effect of other technical or scientific objectives or as the result of accidents.
The tragic breakup of the space shuttle Columbia
was certainly the most widely viewed of these events. Equally compelling but far less widely known were the tests of the MIRVed
"Peacekeeper" ICBM nuclear missiles at Kwajalein Atol
in the Pacific. ("MIRV" stands for Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles").
In these tests up to ten simulated warheads effected simultaneous reentry, creating haunting
geometrically organized synthetic meteor showers whose impact was magnified by the realization that this would be the
visual precursor to nuclear annihilation.
(more)
The work explores the large scale use of the environment, and the atmosphere in particular, as a medium for visual composition.
A consequence of the activity is to highlight the extent to which humankind has impacted and has control over the environment.
The work mimics the naturally occurring phenomena of meteors, which have historically been attributed with significant religious
or supernatural
import as signs or omens and demonstrates that these events can now be synthesized and manipulated at will. It is land art
on a mega scale, exposing the degree to which we have altered and have the ability to further modify our environment.
The work combines elements and properties of technological, environmental, and conceptual art.
(more on the theory of the work)
 Peacekeeper ICBM MIRV test, Kwajelein Atol US Air Force Photo |
Unlike fireworks, to which a comparison is as inevitable as it is regrettable, synthetic meteors
have significant constraints on the forms which may be created. Perhaps this is part of their attraction
as a drawing medium. The limited repertoire of markings available is compelling and
invokes an almost minimalist practice by necessity.
(more on compositional constraints)
Cultural Associations of Meteors
Working with meteors demands acknowledgment of their powerful historical presence as omens and signs and a position with respect
to that legacy. "...comets and meteors since time immemorial have functioned as symbols of change".(2)
Many religions and cultures which are based on a linear concept of time (as opposed to the cyclical time perceived by Native
Americans for instance), posit an end to worldly life, an apocalypse. Meteors figure prominently in many religious texts as
precursors to such a "Rapture". The fixation with this supposed imminent end on the part of American Evangelicals
highlights the disparity between popular culture and high culture in the US. Issues of theism or agnosticism aside,
Apocalyptic and eschatological thought are rooted in the idea of linear history, an idea which firmly propelled modernism.
In the light of postmodern thought apocalypse is either impossible or has already occurred, an idea which apparently does
not have resonance with the Evangelical movement.
The realization of these works will involve substantial planning and expense. Research is currently underway to determine the
mass required of an artificial meteoroid to produce a given meteor visual magnitude in a night sky. This investigation is being done with
the assistance of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. Initial estimates
are as high as hundreds of kilograms of mass per synthetic meteorite. Preliminary investigation has indicated
that a Pegasus air-launched three stage booster,
developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, might be the most cost effective launch vehicle.
With a payload
capacity maximum of about 400 kg and assuming a sacrificial payload mass of 100 kg per meteor, one vehicle launch could produce
four meteors at a preliminary cost of approximately 2 million dollars assuming a rudimentary vehicle to disperse the individual
payloads. These four meteors would
exhibit effectively identical parallel orientations. To create drawings with differently oriented lines, for instance simple intersecting lines or a
grid, would require a second near-simultaneous launch. The minimum lead time for a Pegasus launch is 22 months.
Interestingly, the LGM-118A Peacekeeper Missile
(formerly known as the MX) would make an ideal launch vehicle for synthetic meteors. Capable of
launching 10 reentry vehicles, each weighing 400 to 800 pounds, the final stage consists of the so-called "bus", a guidance
platform capable of the precise individual release of each of the 10 reentry vehicles (originally nuclear warheads).
The missiles are gradually being decommissioned with all of the 50 produced scheduled to be removed from service
this year. Some are being converted to a satellite launcher role by Orbital Sciences, the Pegasus system supplier.
Inquiries are underway to determine if this OSP-2 Peacekeeper variant still possesses the MIRV capability and the launch cost.
The LGN-118A Peacekeeper program's cost was in excess of $20 billion.
A more detailed Implemetation Roadmap describes the steps required to develop the technology to
mount the Reentry Series and includes updated mass requirements.
While it might be desirable to execute the final works in the skies over cities for the obvious presence of an audience,
there are severe obstacles to this. In addition to the potential for alarming the populace in a post 9/11 environment,
extreme measures would have to be taken to assure that the sacrificial payloads were completely demised before reaching the ground.
NASA now requires all space missions to undergo a risk assessment evaluation
where the likelihood of physical harm to individuals from orbital debris which survives reentry is calculated
using computer models. Even if it could be convincingly determined that the
risks to those on the ground were minimal, the potential for alarm may militate overwhelmingly against that venue.
Current practice is for the controlled demise of
orbital vehicles to be conducted over remote unpopulated areas, such as the South Pacific.
"Studies for Synthetic Meteors V1.0"
This is the first in a series of Reentry studies and which began in the Fall of 2004 and will be completed in the summer of 2005.
This series of studies consists of high definition and standard definition video and digital prints. The Studies originate with a sequence of high resolution
(8 Megapixel) digital camera images, typically 60 to 100, taken in rapid succession of the same scene, usually night cityscapes. These digital images
are then subtly retouched and the meteor visualizations are rendered over them at a variety of resolutions, ranging from 3k x 2k pixels for digital prints to
1902x1080 and 1284x720 high definition video and finally 720x480 standard definition video. The typical video clip length is 20 seconds while
digital prints are typically 20"x30".
Bill Dolson
2) "Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors in the Decisive Centuries in British Art and Science" Roberta J.M. Olson and Jay M. Pasachoff, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p.3
(more on the cultural associations of meteors)
Technology
Peacekeeper ICBM MIRV test, Kwajelein Atol
US Air Force Photo
Studies
Studies depicting synthetic meteor drawings are currently in preparation.
The final works will almost certainly occur at night to minimize the
mass required of the sacrificial payload for a given visibility.
Depicting the meteor drawings against dark sky, at night, introduces obvious
challenges to create a proper sense of space and scale. Some studies will employ a night sky and celestial bodies such
as the moon, however, most
studies will use night cityscapes as a backdrop both to site-specifically place the events as well as to provide a sense of scale.
This also interrelates with
the concerns of the Grid Switch Series. Computer video renderings of the reentry events are being composited into high
definition video cityscapes and
compiled as an HD DVD. Efforts are also underway to produce visualizations using the planetarium at the Rose Space Center
of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
A red Perseid meteor photographed on August 9, 2002
photo Pierre Martin
(more on the studies)
These studies have been shown to NASA offices and researchers as well as staff from the Rose Center for Space at the American Museum of Natural History
in support of the project. It is intended to exhibit them in a variety of venues, fine art and otherwise, to attract additional support for the project.
Studies for Synthetic Meteors - San Diego
Still from HD Video Animation
7/21/05
Estancia, New Mexico
Thanks to Wolfgang and the staff of thing
1) The reentry of man-made orbital objects creates luminous trails which are not strictly the same as meteors. Meteoroids (the
celestial objects whose atmospheric reentry creates meteors) are usually very small, having the mass of a grain of sand. They are
traveling at very high velocities, typically about 20 kilometers per second. Their reentry creates an atmospheric shock wave
that produces a luminous plasma field which is nominally 50 meters in diameter. Manmade reentry objects have velocities less than
8 kilometers per second and produce somewhat less visible paths, consisting of a smaller luminous mantle, requiring a much
greater mass to achieve the same apparent brightness. The physics of the reentry at these lower velocities are somewhat different than those of
meteorites. However, in discussions with staff at the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, the terms "synthetic meteors" or "artificial meteoroids"
were deemed appropriate. Meteoroids which survive reentry to reach the earth's surface are called meteorites.